Housing Discrimination Complaints Based On Disability Up

Nearly half of all housing discrimination complaints last year were based on disability, the federal government said in a report released this week.

Of the 10,155 complaints of housing discrimination filed with local, state and federal agencies in 2010, 4,839 were allegations of disability discrimination.

Meanwhile, the next highest number of complaints were on the basis of race with 3,483 grievances filed, according to an annual report on the state of fair housing from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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There were less than half that many filings in each of the other six categories available.

The complaints were brought under the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability, race, color, sex, religion, national origin or familial status in most circumstances related to renting or purchasing a home.

While the overall number of housing discrimination complaints in 2010 dipped somewhat compared to the 10,242 complaints filed the previous year, disability grievances were up slightly from 4,458 in 2009.

“Our goal is to put an end to unlawful housing discrimination,” said John Trasviña, assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity at the Housing Department. “We have made progress in reducing housing discrimination, but more work needs to be done.”

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